FC Gold Pride was an American professional women's soccer club based in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

, which participated in

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...

(WPS). The club replaced the San Jose CyberRays of the defunct

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000, the league began its first season in April 2001 with eight teams in the Uni ...

as the top-level women's soccer team in the San Francisco Bay Area. FC Gold Pride moved to its final home of

Pioneer Stadium Pioneer Stadium is a stadium owned and operated by California State University, East Bay in Hayward, California, United States. It currently hosts the East Bay Pioneers soccer and track and field teams. The stadium also hosts the East Bay FC S ...

on the campus of CSU East Bay in June 2010 after opening their 2010 home schedule at the Castro Valley High School Athletic Stadium. The club ceased operations in November 16, 2010, two years before the WPS folded, after struggling financially and unable to find new investors.

Team history

Founding

FC Gold Pride was founded on September 3, 2008, as the seventh and final team to join the new top-tier Women's Professional Soccer league. The team was owned by a group led by Brian and Nancy NeSmith, the former being the CEO of

Sunnyvale Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the north, ...

-based internet technology company

Blue Coat Systems __FORCETOC__ Blue Coat Systems, Inc., was a company that provided hardware, software, and services designed for cybersecurity and network management. In 2016 it was acquired by and folded into Symantec and in 2019 as part of Symantec’s Enterpri ...

. Former San Jose Clash midfielder and local youth coach Albertin Montoya was named the team's first head coach, while former CyberRays and Brazil national team player Sissi was announced as the team's first assistant coach on September 29, 2008. On November 13, 2008, the team announced that it would play its home matches at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, which it shared with the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

as well as the

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

soccer teams. The team revealed its official name of FC Gold Pride, and its logo of a lioness, to the public for the first time on November 19, 2008. On September 16, 2008, WPS conducted its initial player allocation of United States national team players. The league allocated

Nicole Barnhart Nicole Renee Barnhart (born October 10, 1981) is an American retired soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. She played professionally for FC Gold Pride and Philadelphia Independence in Women's Professional Soccer, and FC Kansas City, Utah ...

Leslie Osborne Leslie Marie Osborne (born May 27, 1983) is a retired American soccer defensive midfielder who last played for the Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL in 2013. She is a former member of the United States women's national soccer team and previously pl ...

, and Rachel Buehler to FC Gold Pride. On September 24, 2008, the league allocated a further four players to the Bay Area via the

2008 WPS International Draft The 2008 WPS International Draft took place on September 24, 2008. It was the first international draft held by Women's Professional Soccer to assign the WPS rights of international players to the American-based teams. For the 2009 season, teams ...

: strikers

Christine Sinclair Christine Margaret Sinclair (born June 12, 1983) is a retired Canadian professional Association football, soccer player who most recently played as a Forward (association football), forward for the Portland Thorns FC, Portland Thorns of the ...

(

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

) and

Eriko Arakawa is a Japanese football player. She plays for Chifure AS Elfen Saitama and formerly played for the Japan national team. Club career Arakawa was born in Nerima, Tokyo on 30 October 1979. In 1997, she joined L.League club Yomiuri-Seiyu Beleza ( ...

(

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

), and Brazilian midfielder Formiga and defender

Érika The given name Erika is a female name with multiple meanings of Old Norse and Japanese language, Japanese origin. Erika and the variants Erica, Ericka, or Ereka are feminine forms of Eric, derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' ...

. The Pride signed a one-year deal with Formiga in February 2009, as well as Arakawa, post-draft discovery pick Adriane (

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

), Érika, and Sinclair. At the 2009 WPS Draft, FC Gold Pride drafted three former college players:

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

midfielder Christina DiMartino, Notre Dame defender Carrie Dew, and

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

forward Tiffany Weimer. Also amongst the 2009 draftees was former United States national team star

Brandi Chastain Brandi Denise Chastain (born July 21, 1968) is an American retired soccer player, two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion, two-time Olympic gold-medalist, coach, and sports broadcaster. She played for the United States national team from 1988 ...

2009 WPS season

FC Gold Pride won their inaugural WPS game against the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defu ...

on April 5, 2009. The club remained in strong contention until defender Kandace Wilson was injured during a home game against the

Los Angeles Sol The Los Angeles Sol was an American professional association football, soccer club that was based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California, that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. The team was co-owned and operated by Anschutz E ...

. After that, FC Gold Pride's second loss at the hands of the

Washington Freedom Washington Freedom may refer to: * Washington Freedom (cricket) * Washington Freedom (soccer) {{dab ...

marked the beginning of the club's slide to the bottom of the WPS rankings, where it would remain for the rest of the season. The club's transactions in the wake of Wilson's injury included signing

draftee Greer Barnes, elevating developmental player Marisa Abegg to the full roster, and returning Sissi to the field as a player. In the end, FC Gold Pride failed to make the

2009 Women's Professional Soccer Playoffs The 2009 WPS Playoffs were the postseason to Women's Professional Soccer's 2009 Season, that started on August 15 and culminated on August 22 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Format The top four WPS teams, based on their regular s ...

, after a must-win game against the

Saint Louis Athletica Saint Louis Athletica was an American professional soccer club that was based in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri that participated in Women's Professional Soccer. Athletica started the 2009 season playing its home games at Ralph Korte ...

ended in a 1–1 draw. The club finally snapped its ten-game winless streak with a final 3–2 win against the

Washington Freedom Washington Freedom may refer to: * Washington Freedom (cricket) * Washington Freedom (soccer) {{dab ...

on August 1, 2009. However, a last loss to

Sky Blue FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 un ...

and a tie with

did not allow FC Gold Pride to avoid finishing last in the WPS standings.

2009–10 off-season moves

The only player FC Gold Pride lost to the 2009 WPS Expansion Draft was defender Leigh Ann Robinson, chosen by the Atlanta Beat. Over the course of the offseason, the club traded Allison Whitworth to the Beat for the 10th- and 12th-overall picks in the 2010 WPS Draft, lost team co-captain

and assists leader Tiffany Weimer to the

in free agency, loaned

back to her former Nadeshiko League club

NTV Beleza is a women's professional football team that plays in Japan's WE League. It is based in the Kita, Itabashi, Inagi, Hino, Tama, and Tachikawa wards of Tokyo. They have won 52 major Asian and national titles, the most of any team in the W ...

for the remainder of her WPS contract, waived contract options for Adriane,

, and Formiga, and in February 2010 also waived

. The club signed Canadian player Candace Chapman on October 8, 2009, and after scouting the 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, the club signed Norwegian international

Solveig Gulbrandsen Solveig Ingersdatter Gulbrandsen (born 12 January 1981) is a Norwegian former footballer played a midfielder. At club level she has previously represented Kolbotn, FC Gold Pride, Vålerenga Fotball Damer and Stabæk. With the Norwegian nati ...

on December 10. FC Gold Pride acquired

player

Camille Abily Camille Anne Françoise Abily (born 5 December 1984) is a French Association football, football manager and former player, who featured prominently for both the France women's national football team, France women's national team and for Olympiq ...

in exchange for midfielder Tina DiMartino, FC Gold Pride's top 2009 WPS Draft pick, and the 14th-overall pick in the 2010 draft and rights to a 2009 international discovery player. In the 2010 WPS Draft, FC Gold Pride selected 2009

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...

winner Kelley O'Hara, New Zealand international

Ali Riley Alexandra Lowe Riley (born 30 October 1987) is a professional association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for Angel City FC, Angel City of the American National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Born in ...

, and 2008 U-20 World Cup champions Becky Edwards and

Kaley Fountain Kaley Nikole Fountain (born July 1, 1988) is an American professional soccer player. She previously played for FC Gold Pride, Atlanta Beat, and Western New York Flash of Women's Professional Soccer and was a member of the United States U-20 wo ...

, among others. The Los Angeles Sol ceased operations not long afterward, and in the ensuing 2010 WPS Dispersal Draft FC Gold Pride acquired

Marta Marta may refer to: People * Marta (given name), a feminine given name * Märta, a feminine given name * Marta (surname) * Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer Places * Marta (river), an Italian river that flow ...

, Kiki Bosio, and Lindsay Browne. The club separately signed another Los Angeles Sol goalkeeper Brittany Cameron as a free agent.

2010 season

FC Gold Pride started fast and kept its momentum running throughout the 2010 season. Despite the departure of

and trading

to the Atlanta Beat, the Pride dominated the league's regular season and on September 26, 2010, won their first WPS Championship by defeating the

Philadelphia Independence The Philadelphia Independence was an American professional association football, soccer club that was based in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania. The team joined Women's Professional Soccer as an expansion team in 2010 and played ...

, 4–0. Three members of the team garnered end of season honors:

was named

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is held on b ...

and won the Golden Boot, both for the second consecutive season;

was named Goalkeeper of the Year; and

was named Rookie of the Year. After the close of the 2010 season, it was revealed on November 16, 2010, that FC Gold Pride had folded and would not be returning for the 2011 season.

Players

Team captains

(2009) * Rachel Buehler (2009–2010) *

(2010)

All-time records

:''Only competitive matches (regular season and playoffs) are counted. Wins, draws, and losses are results at the final whistle; the results of penalty shoot-outs are not counted.'' ; Team records * Career appearances: 42,

Tiffeny Milbrett Tiffeny Carleen Milbrett (born October 23, 1972) is an American former professional soccer forward who was a longtime member of the United States women's national team. In May 2018 the National Soccer Hall of Fame announced Milbrett will be ens ...

* Career goals scored: 20,

* Career assists: 10,

* Career shutouts: 11,

WPS awards

* Michelle Akers Player of the Year Award **

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

* Goalkeeper of the Year **

, 2010 * Rookie of the Year **

, 2010 * WPS Golden Boot ** Marta, 2010 * ''Regular-season champions'' (1): 2010 * ''League champions'' (1): 2010